portland. grace.

there was a lot of hype for portland to live up to:  blue like jazz, portlandia, and well mostly kev and meg makins.  it totally did live up to it.  it was a dream world for me (jenn).  it felt like every front yard had a beautiful garden and every backyard a couple chickens, if not a goat!  around the corner from where we were staying was a grocery co-op that did an amazing job at sourcing produce locally and supporting other local businesses.  we biked around the city, which was totally doable even though it was pouring the whole time.  the whole city had a querkiness about it.  it reminded me a bit of hamilton in how real it was.  it felt like a mis-matched city where anyone could fit in- and portlanders have totally owned it!  it was so inspirational to be there and think that hamilton could become continue to become a thriving city without losing its identity.  one thing that i think helped that a lot was that instead of getting rid of broken down buildings or homogenizing the design of the city, they just revitalized the old.  we went to this one coffee shop, that beside having amazing coffee, was in an old warehouse...and there are things like that all over the city.

again though, even though we loved the city, the people we stayed with and met while we were there taught us the most.  we stayed in a house just around the corner from alberta street with three lovely women.  right from the start erica, meg and alexa made us feel totally at home by leaving the door open and setting up a room for us in the basement.  ...not to mention the connection erica and i had when i saw the bread bar's cookbook on her shelf!!  who knew portlanders knew about us?  over the couple days we spent there we got to know these girls and a bunch of their community who were all super quick to give us tips on the best stuff to do in the city.  we were really struck by the way that these people all seemed so real and down-to-earth.  they were quick to acknowledge failings and struggles and how God was working in the midst of all that.  one night we went out for drinks with a bunch of them and john told us about a book he is writing about his own story.  we had just met this guy and he was telling us about deep struggles in his life.  its amazing how being around people like that who are just being themselves really helps you to remember the freedom that comes when you are more aware of God's grace and love than anything else.  it was so clear that as john was sitting there, like it was with lots of people we talked to in portland, that his identity was not in what we thought about him, but was in something much more solid. 

the last morning there we went to the farmers market with the girls we stayed with and then went to church at imageo dei community.  we loved this church.  the music was rich and the teaching was deep as rick mckinnley articulated the gospel with a lot of clarity and sincerity. on our ride south that had us talking a for while about how the people we encountered in portland made us more aware of God's grace. it reminded us that we want to be people who can live and demonstarte god's grace to others.